Homesteading, Homeschooling, and Homemaking in the PNW

Phoebe Day 32

Remember this day? This was the day when Phoebe leapt out of her cage and Leo possibly impregnated her. Well, little Miss Will She/Won’t She greeted me with a full on hay mustache and pulled fur all over her cage this morning. As far as I can tell she hasn’t kindled yet, but the problem is she’s not building the nest in the nesting box. She had taken all of the hay out of it again and has built up the opposite corner of the cage. So I put a bunch more hay in the box hoping she’d shift her nest making to the appropriate place.

Those of you more experienced with raising rabbits, do you think I should shift the nest she is building into the nesting box? Or move the box into the corner she is building it in? She’s sweetly tempered, but I really don’t want to risk getting bit by a protective soon to be Mama rabbit. She’s never bit anyone, though, but I remember how protective Piper was at this stage. Will moving the nest upset her? If she’s still building the nest it means she hasn’t given birth yet, right? I didn’t see anything squirming and the fur is not centrally located yet. I don’t want to risk her giving birth on the wire.

Piper pulled fur about 30 hours before she gave birth. Since they are sisters, I imagine that she will give birth on day 33 as well. I had really given up thinking Phoebe was pregnant, but I’m glad I decided to leave the nesting box in. Now I just need to encourage her to use it and I’m not sure how. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

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2 thoughts on “Phoebe Day 32”

Well, if it was me, I would move take a small carboard box cut just high enough to make sure kits can’t get out, and have one person lift her whole self-built nesting area straight up and then down into the box.. and leave it all alone until she has those babies, the less stress at that time the better..

Then once the kits are born, I would wait at least one day till she is settling and you know she is nursing, and then I would lift the nest out of the box and put it into the proper kindle box again in one as smooth as possible move.. leaving the box in the corner she likes, if you are sure you have to it in the corner you choose, then move the box slowly over a number of days till you get it where you want it, but not until after the kits are born, momma is nursing them and all is settled.

Thanks. I didn’t see this until after she’d kindled and we’d put them in the nesting box. But I researched all over this morning because I was worried and the consensus seemed to be split. I figured since they might go through the side wire if I left them there it was a safe move.